MPs have urged the ministry of Lands to put stronger checks in place to stop double titling, after a debate on a report by the Committee on Lands.
It followed the recent end of a suspension on the issuing of special certificates of title. These are replacement titles given to a registered owner who has lost the original.
Eliab Naturinda, the MP for Ndorwa County West, said the ministry must protect the process better.
“I urge the ministry of lands to undertake safeguards during the issuance of special land titles, otherwise double titling will continue,” he said.
Naturinda said community leaders should be involved when special titles are processed.
He also proposed that every search letter carry a barcode. He asked the House to look urgently at the weaknesses in the ICT system behind the land information system.
James Waluswaka, the Bunyole West County MP, said land disputes were causing deaths in his area. He said land and women were the main causes.
He asked the ministry to transfer technical staff so that none stays in one place for more than three years.
Waluswaka said surveyors were being accused of double titling for their own benefit, which fuels land wrangles.
Jesca Ababiku, the Adjumani Woman MP and a parliamentary commissioner, welcomed the lifting of the ban. She said the suspension had delayed business deals and travel, and so hurt the economy.
Solomon Silwany, the MP for Bukhooli County Central, said government should stop lamenting and start acting.
He asked how the ministry would help people who have lived on their land for 30 years to get titles.
Isaac Ismail Otimgiw, the Padyere County MP, asked government to restart its land titling project. He said it had helped the public get titles before it stopped.
Ann Maria Nankabirwa, the Kyankwanzi District Woman MP, said the ministry had still not converted the Kabaka’s land to freehold, especially in Mubende District.
She asked the ministry to reduce the growing backlog of cases caused by double titling on the same pieces of land.
Samuel Opio Acuti, the Kole North County MP, said government had lost land because of errors in its information system.
He proposed extra funding to digitise land administration at the ministry.
Earlier, Judith Nabakooba, the minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, explained that the move was meant to ensure the effective transfer of staff between the ministry’s zonal land offices.
